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“The seed of every sin known to man is in my heart.” Those words were proclaimed by the great Scottish pastor and writer Robert Murray McCheyne and echoed by John Owen, a seventeenth-century English theologian. We are capable of every sin. And that fact should result in deep humility and dependence. So when a Pharisee named Simon criticized Jesus for allowing a prostitute to anoint him with expensive perfume, wash his feet with her tears, and wipe them with her hair, our Lord told a story to drive home an unforgettable truth.

Luke 7:40-43
And Jesus answering said to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” And he answered, “Say it, Teacher.” “A certain moneylender had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. When they could not pay, he cancelled the debt of both. Now which of them will love him more?” Simon answered, “The one, I suppose, for whom he cancelled the larger debt.” And he said to him, “You have judged rightly.”

There is a definite lesson each of us should learn from this story: Spiritual pride has no place in a relationship with Jesus. Spiritual pride provides the fertile soil for sin to sprout and grow. Only one person has ever told me that he could never have an affair. Turns out he did. Spiritual pride takes us down one way or another. 

This certainly does not mean we ever back down from the truth. However, it does mean we share the truth humbly with gentleness and respect, knowing that “but for the grace of God there go I.”  

Love for God comes from an understanding of what he has forgiven. Grace receivers should be the best grace givers. Grace never approves of sin; it paves the way for forgiveness. 

Father, we must speak clearly regarding sin. Help us speak clearly and boldly in love. In Jesus’ name. Amen.